Saudi Arabia shuts down Al Jazeera’s Riyadh bureau

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information has announced it has shut down Al Jazeera Media Network’s bureau in Riyadh and has revoked its operational license.

“The move comes after Al Jazeera promoted the plots of terrorist groups, supported the Houthi militias in Yemen, and tried to break internal ranks with Saudi Arabia by and harming its sovereignty,” a statement on Saudi Press Agency read.

Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Maldives and Mauritius all declared they have severed ties with Qatar over the latter’s recent policies on extremism and terrorist financing.